Grow lights started a horticultural revolution. The goal was to create artificial sunlight so that plants could be grown indoors and with increased growing cycles. The ability to control the light exposure allowed growers to stimulate and regulate plant growth.
Traditional grow lights are often metal halides, sodium vapor and/or arc lights. These types of light emit intense white light to closely replicate the broad spectrum of light that comprises natural sunlight, including light in the ultraviolet spectrum. Traditional grow lights had many drawbacks though. They consumed large amounts of electricity, required high capital investment in the fixtures, generated large amounts of heat and were often difficult to move and place due to their size and bulk. These factors meant that grow lights were often used for limited portions of the growing cycle or for high value cultivars where the cost was justified by the returns.
The broad spectrum light emitted from traditional grow lights is inefficient as the plant uses a small portion of the spectrum for photosynthetic activity. Each plant has a specific absorption spectrum. That is, the plant has a specific spectrum or spectra of light that it uses to perform its photosynthetic activity. Light that is outside of the absorption spectrum is not utilized. By exposing a plant to broad spectrum light, like that from traditional grow lights, the overall system is inefficient at stimulating or promoting the growth of the plant.
Operating costs for traditional grow lights are commensurately high due to the high electrical demand by the lights. The traditional grow lights use a resistive element or a spark to generate the emitted light. Both these methods of light generation require large amounts of electricity to generate the light at the necessary intensity levels.
The constant cycling and extended run time of the grow lights also causes the bulbs of traditional grow lights to fail or become ineffective in a shortened life span. The short life span means that bulbs must be replaced often, further increasing the operating costs of the lights.
If a plant has multiple absorption spectra, multiple grow lights are required to generate the corresponding light. This often requires multiple grow lights compressed into a shared space, which can be difficult to efficiently accomplish due to the large nature of many traditional grow lights.
Grow lights can be used to stimulate and promote growth of any plant. In some cases, the light is used to promote growth of Cannabis plants indoors. Due to the high value of the crop, Cannabis plants are traditionally cultivated indoors for privacy and to protect the plants from the outdoor environment. This isolation necessitates the use of grow lights to promote growth of the Cannabis plant.
Cannabis plants create Cannabinoids, the psychoactive compounds that cause the feelings of euphoria and relaxation in consumers. The Cannabinoids are produced by the plant and are found in the highest concentrations within the plant's resin. The resin is concentrated in the flowering buds of the female Cannabis plant, often appearing as sticky, dew-like droplets. The concentration of psychoactive compounds within the Cannabis resin can be increased by breeding and cultivation of the plant. New methods of Cannabis cultivation are being explored to more efficiently grow the plant and increase the concentrations of Cannabinoids within.
One of the new avenues being explored for Cannabis use is the creation of Cannabinoid rich extracts. The extracts are seen, not only as a new avenue for medical and pharmacological research, but as a more efficient and safer approach to the psychoactive use of the plant. The Cannabinoid-rich extract has a longer life and is a more stable form of Cannabinoids that can be used in many commercial and research purposes and products.
One of the most widely adopted methods of creating a Cannabinoid-rich extract from the Cannabis plant material is the use of butane as a solvent. Butane is a relatively efficient and cost effective means of extracting the Cannabinoids. However, butane is highly volatile and potentially unsafe in a gaseous form. In order to separate the Cannabinoids from the butane solvent, the butane is vaporized, causing potential safety hazards for not only the producer but also the surrounding environs and inhabitants.
Typical extraction methods use the Cannabinoid-rich Cannabis buds and surrounding leaves. The rest of the plant, stems and other leaves, are unused as it is not economical to invest resources into extracting the little concentration of Cannabinoids within the plant tissues of these parts.
There exists a need in the horticulture industry and particularly in the Cannabis cultivation industry, for improved systems and methods for plant cultivation that increase the efficiency and improve the overall safety of the growing process and products.